Citrix Converge 2020, our free, global, virtual, developer conference, featured keynotes, breakout sessions, coffee breaks and live Q&As presented by Citrix employees, customers, and partners. All of the recorded content is available via the Citrix Developer YouTube channel; however, with over 80 Converge recordings available on-demand, you might be wondering where to start. Here are our top 10 moments of Citrix Converge 2020.
10. ONERECAP: RawWorks X Converge 2020
Our first highlight — Citrix partner RawWorks‘ weekly recap — wasn’t actually part of the Converge program. The Dutch consultancy created engaging videos at the end of each week with their own pick of the highlights:
9. Slack Conversations
While the keynote and breakout sessions were prerecorded and available on-demand, speakers answered questions live via Slack. In addition to the Q&A sessions and technical conversations, we ran daily contests on Slack to encourage attendees to share their favorite movies, music, pets, and even the view from their window!
8. Coffee Break: Safi Obeidullah
We featured ten Citrix executives in our live daily, virtual coffee breaks, answering questions about all things Citrix. The commitment prize, however, goes to Safi Obeidullah, director of Citrix’ CTO Office, who stayed up until 1 a.m. Australian Eastern Time for his 6 a.m. Pacific time slot.
7. Calling all IT Administrators! How to Enable Users in a Pandemic
The first breakout session in our top ten is also the most topical. IT consultant and CTP James Rankin shared his experience of enabling users as the pandemic reshaped our working lives.
6. Opening Keynote: Building the Future of Work
Redmonk analyst Stephen O’Grady, author of the classic The New Kingmakers: How Developers Conquered the World, joined the Citrix developer ecosystem team in presenting the opening keynote. Stephen explained the opportunities for developers as on-premises products give way to cloud services.
5. How Citrix Workspace Solutions Simplify the Adoption Process
When you hear the word “adoption” at a technology conference, you don’t expect the presentation to include birth mothers and adoptive parents. Citrix senior sales engineer Niek Boevink explained how he combined Citrix technologies such as Citrix Workspace, ShareFile, and RightSignature to meet the Dutch adoption agencies stringent requirements.
4. Coffee Break: Jeroen Van Rotterdam
As Citrix EVP of Engineering, Jeroen van Rotterdam is responsible for all aspects of software, hardware and cloud product engineering within Citrix, leading a global team of more than 2,000 engineers. We had a packed house for Jeroen’s coffee break, with questions on all aspects of Citrix technology.
3. Why Multi-Cloud Strategies need Citrix SD-WAN
Converge’s 57 breakouts covered a wide range of highly technical topics. Bas Stapelbroek and Ruud Hund, of Cegeka, presented the top-rated session, exploring the problems that companies encounter moving towards the cloud, and explaining how Citrix SD-WAN can help overcome them.
2. Citrix Converge 2020 Hackathon
A regular fixture of Citrix Converge, the hackathon attracted a wide variety of entries. Top prize went to the team at Brick Bridge Consulting for their entry, “You had me at Productivity”, a five-minute whirlwind tour of integrations centered on Citrix Workspace’s microapps technology.
1. A Microapps Customer Story: The Municipality of Hollands Kroon
For the No. 1 spot, we return full circle to RawWorks for a microapps deployment at the Municipality of Hollands Kroon. Located in the north of the Netherlands, Hollands Kroon is home to Microsoft Azure’s “West Europe” data center. The local government is pioneering flexible working practices, powered by Citrix Workspace and microapps. RawWorks Technology Officer Chris Twiest and Hollands Kroon ICT consultant Frank Van Hoolwerff explain how the municipality was able to quickly adapt to the new working environment imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.
A Big Thank You to All Our Participants!
As we wrap up Citrix Converge and see out 2020, I’d like to say thank you to all of our Converge attendees, speakers, mentors, hackers, staff, and all of the Citrix developer community, and wish you all Happy Holidays and a much improved New Year!
